Northern California + Pacific Northwest + British Columbia VS Southern California + Desert Southwest + Baja California (state, better)
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Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
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Northern California + Pacific Northwest + British Columbia (Canada):
- Northern California
- Washington
- Oregon
- Idaho
- British Columbia (Canada)
I included Idaho to keep it at a balanced comparison (3 US states, 1 International province, and half of another state)
Southern California + Desert Southwest + Baja California (Mexico):
- Southern California
- New Mexico
- Arizona
- Nevada
- Baja California (Mexico)
Criteria: - Scenery (Which type of scenery do you like better?)
- Cities (Which group has more appealing cities to you?)
- Weather (Which side has better weather?)
- Recreational Activities (Which side has better activities?)
- Economy (Where is it better?)
- Dining/Food (Where can you find better food?)
- Diverse/Variety (Where can you find more integrated and diverse scenes?)
- Nightlife (Where is there a better availability of nightlife options?)
- Safety (Where is it safer?)
- Education (Better collection of schools and educational scene?)
- Parks (Which region has better parks?) Questions: - Which region do you prefer more?
- Which one do you find more appealing?
- Which one would you much rather live in?
Major Population Centers: - San Francisco, USA
- San Jose, USA
- Oakland, USA
- Sacramento, USA
- Seattle, USA
- Portland, USA
- Boise, USA
- Vancouver, Canada - Los Angeles, USA
- San Diego, USA
- Phoenix, USA
- Tucson, USA
- Albuquerque, USA
- Las Vegas, USA
- Santa Fe, USA
- Tijuana, Mexico
Navy Blue- Northern California + Pacific Northwest + British Columbia (Canada) Dark Red- Southern California + Desert Southwest + Baja California (Mexico)
Last edited by DANNYY; 01-05-2011 at 05:08 PM..
Reason: Tweak.
I'll list out some Universities to contribute though.
UC Berkeley
UC Davis
UC San Francisco
UC Santa Cruz
UC Hastings
Stanford
San Jose State
University of Washington
Washington State
University of Oregon
Oregon State
Lewis & Clark
San Francisco State
Cal Poly
Reed
Boise State
University of British Columbua
Fairleigh Dickinson
vs
UC Los Angles
UC San Diego
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara
University of Southern California
University of Arizona
Pepperdine
Arizona State
San Diego State
Cal State Fullerton
Claremont McKenna
Harvey Mudd
Cal Tech
UNLV
Another good category would be National Parks... a bunch in both regions. I.E. Grand Canyon vs Yosemite.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 15,935,989 times
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- Scenery (Which type of scenery do you like better?): Northern California all the way up to British Columbia slightly more. It was close.
- Cities (Which group has more appealing cities to you?): Southern California just slightly.
Overall it was close because out of my 4 favorite cities in the country, 1 is in the Northern California/Pacific Northwest/British Columbia region and that is Seattle but 2 are in the Southern California/Desert Southwest/Baja California region and those are Tucson & San Diego. The only other top favorite city of mine is Denver which isn't in either of these regions.
- Weather (Which side has better weather?) Don't really care, I can handle it all.
- Recreational Activities (Which side has better activities?) Toss up.
- Economy (Where is it better?) Northern California/British Columbia/Pacific Northwest
- Dining/Food (Where can you find better food?) How tough, I give it to Southern California/Desert Southwest/Baja California by just a little bit.
- Diverse/Variety (Where can you find more integrated and diverse scenes?) Both are pretty diverse. But I'm going to give it to Northern California/British Columbia/Pacific Northwest because its a bit better integrated.
- Nightlife (Where is there a better availability of nightlife options?) Toss Up.
Clubs & Gambling: Southern California/Baja California/Desert Southwest. Las Vegas alone really sets this one up.
Bars & Pubs: Bars would probably be an advantage for Seattle, Portland, & San Francisco.
- Safety (Where is it safer?) Don't know.
- Education (Better collection of schools and educational scene?) Northern California/Pacific Northwest/British Columbia
- Parks (Which region has better parks?) Yosemite & Grand Canyon are a good match up. But Big Sur sets this one away for Northern California/British Columbia/Pacific Northwest
Questions:
- Which region do you prefer more? Toss up. (I cant decide)
- Which one do you find more appealing? Northern California/Pacific Northwest/British Columbia (The scenery in my opinion I like a tad bit more)
- Which one would you much rather live in? Tucson = Seattle = San Diego > Vancouver = Los Angeles = San Jose > Sacramento = Las Vegas > Phoenix = Albuquerque > Portland = Santa Fe > Boise = San Francisco = Oakland = Tijuana
Based on your criteria I would say the Northern option for everything except possibly food (I love Mexican food).
Although I would personally pick North regardless, the playing field would definitely be more even if it wasn't for Baja being in such rough shape. Beautiful area with a lot of problems.
At the end of the day southern california is what sells and what everyone wants. Who wants to be in northern california where it is cold, foggy, soggy, and filled with wing (left) nuts and tech geeks, when you have all the glam and glitz of southern california, with beaches you can swim in with out a wet suit?
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 15,935,989 times
Reputation: 4047
You guys do realize this isn't just Northern California versus Southern California? This would be one region of 3.5 states and one international province against another of equal proportions. I don't see how Baja California hurts their image, if you don't want to deal with Tijuana then you don't have too. I did ask what cities in the region you pick you could live in, didn't say because you pick one region that you had to live in British Columbia or Baja California.
I went with the Northern region on this, but it was close for me, a 51-49 scenario. I came up with 51 reasons for the northern region against 49 for the southern region. The two extra reasons that gave the northern region the win for me was because I know very little of it and want to explore it one day. And also because of the weather, I am really fond of rainy and cloudy weather for some reason. So it was a deciding factor for me at least.
Weird though, this thread didn't get much traction.
You guys do realize this isn't just Northern California versus Southern California? This would be one region of 3.5 states and one international province against another. I don't see how Baja California hurts their image, if you don't want to deal with Tijuana then you don't have too. I did ask what cities in the region you pick you could live in, didn't say because you pick one region that you had to live in British Columbia or Baja California.
I went with the Northern region on this, but it was close for me, a 51-49 scenario. I came up with 51 reasons for the northern region against 49 for the southern region. The two extra reasons that gave the northern region the win for me was because I know very little of it and want to explore it one day. And also because of the weather, I am really fond of rainy and cloudy weather for some reason. So it was a deciding factor for me at least.
Weird though, this thread didn't get much traction.
Tijuana isn't even the only city in Baja. Baja is very beautiful. The fact that it is part of Mexico is why it gets bashed but it is truely beautiful.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 15,935,989 times
Reputation: 4047
Yeah dude I know. Mexico in general has some very pretty places, if people have seen Mexico City, they'll know how beautiful it is. Cancun, Cozumel, and a few other places are scenic as hell. I think in general this correlation on these forums of Southern California as "an extension of Mexico" is ridiculous and kind of racist too. This forum doesn't surprise me much anymore, people just continue to hide behind their screens and spew all kinds of trash.
You guys do realize this isn't just Northern California versus Southern California? This would be one region of 3.5 states and one international province against another of equal proportions. I don't see how Baja California hurts their image, if you don't want to deal with Tijuana then you don't have too. I did ask what cities in the region you pick you could live in, didn't say because you pick one region that you had to live in British Columbia or Baja California.
I went with the Northern region on this, but it was close for me, a 51-49 scenario. I came up with 51 reasons for the northern region against 49 for the southern region. The two extra reasons that gave the northern region the win for me was because I know very little of it and want to explore it one day. And also because of the weather, I am really fond of rainy and cloudy weather for some reason. So it was a deciding factor for me at least.
Weird though, this thread didn't get much traction.
vs.
Across California, I've been seeing more and more of these emblems on clothes and cars lately. I was thinking of getting a SoCal sticker on my car, but I don't want some bro to drive next to me, asking if I have a Kottonmouth Kings album.
However, this thread ISN'T about California. In fact, SoCal and NorCal have more in common with each other than they do with the regions they are adjoined with in this thread. The problem is that neither side wants to admit it!
I didn't vote here. I choose both. They both offer extremely different things, but each appeal to a different part of who I am. I've been everywhere between Ensenada and Vancouver, and I just gotta say that the West as a whole is awesome.
*Note: Northern Nevada really doesn't have that much common with Arizona and New Mexico. There aren't any Spanish missions, or Indian reservations there. Reno has more in common with other Intermountain West cities, such as Salt Lake City or even Boise than it does with places like Santa Fe or Phoenix.
Last edited by Lifeshadower; 01-07-2011 at 05:41 PM..
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